Gold Falls with Stronger Dollar, Silver Plummets

Gold fell to a three-week low on Monday as a rising U.S. dollar dampened the yellow metal’s appeal. Silver and platinum followed gold’s retreat. The day was sour for oil and stocks as well. Oil futures fell, briefly slipping below $70 a barrel. The three major U.S. stock indexes each declined over 2 percent.

In New York trading futures for bullion:

Silver for July delivery plunged 84.5 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $14.03 an ounce. Silver’s high for the day was $14.875.

Gold for August slumped $13.20, or 1.4 percent, to $927.50 an ounce. It had an intraday low of $926.50 and a high of $940.30.

July platinum dropped $45.00, or 3.6 percent, to $1,213.70 an ounce.

"Gold prices resumed their decline as the new trading week got underway, and they were heavily pressured by a renewed push to higher ground in the US dollar," wrote Jon Nadler, Sr. analyst at Kitco.com. "A more than $1.50 drop in crude oil prices also helped push gold to lower price territory today."

"We would not be surprised to see further short-term declines, especially in the absence of any material jewelry, physical-investment or ETF demand," John Reade, UBS AG’s head metals strategist in London, was quoted on Bloomberg.

In London bullion, the benchmark gold price was set earlier in the day to $932.25 an ounce, which was $5.00 lower than Friday. Silver fell 76 cents to $14.31 an ounce. Platinum was fixed $7.00 lower to $1,234.00.

Gold, considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty, tends to follow oil and move opposite to the U.S. dollar. A rising greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities, like bullion, more expensive for holders of other world currencies.

Oil and gasoline prices

The driving dollar was also cited for motivating oil losses. New York crude-oil for July delivery fell $1.42, or 2.0 percent, to $70.62 a barrel. The contract had an intraday low of $69.58.

The average price for unleaded gasoline turned up six-tenths of cent to $2.699 a gallon, AAA said Monday. The price is 5 cents higher than a week ago and 36.8 cents more than last month.

U.S. Stocks

U.S. stocks ended lower as "weaker oil prices and more geopolitical unrest raised worries that the recession may not be waning as soon as some had hoped," wrote Alexandra Twin of CNNMoney.